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62Maritime Reporter & Engineering News NEWSPEOPLE & COMPANIES New NOL Group CEO Takes Over NOL Group has completed the transi-tion to a new CEO and that Ng Yat Chung will take the helm of the global transport and logistics company October 1, 2011. Mr. Ng, an NOL Executive Director since May, will succeed Ron Widdows who retires from the company Dec. 31. Paltzo Named MD at ATLAS ELEKTRONIK Volker Paltzo (46) has been appointedto the ManagementBoard of Atlas Elek- tronik. Effective Oc- tober 1, Paltzo will succeed Kai Horten,who leaves after five years as ManagingDirector of ATLAS to become CEO and President of the aircraft manufacturing supplier Premium Aerotec GmbH. Dieter Rottsieper will remain Speaker of the Management Board.Howell Laboratories Names AllenPresident, CEO Paul Wescott (left) & David Allen. Howell Laboratories, Inc. announces the promotion of David G. Allen to Pres- ident and Chief Executive Officer to suc- ceed Paul A. Wescott, Howell?s President since 1977 who is retiring. Allen has been with Howell since 1982 in a variety of positions, most recently as Vice Pres- ident and Chief Operating Officer. He is a graduate of the University of Chicago and lives in Raymond with his wife and two children. Nichols Joins Vigor Sales Team Bryan Nichols isjoining forces withVIGOR Industrial.Nichols joinsVIGOR as a salesrepresentative for the company, which builds, repairs and modernizes com-mercial fishing and cargo vessels, ferries and military ships at six locations in theNorthwest. Nichols had been sales andmarketing manager at Nichols Brothers Boat Builders of Whidbey Island, Wash. Nichols will represent VIGOR and its new-build and fabrication division, US Fab. STX Marine Promotes Carroll STX Marine promoted Mike Carroll to the position of Vice President ? Opera- tions for the Houston office. He has been with the company for 10 years and has been instrumental in expanding the capa- bilities and profile of the company in the US and will be responsible for the furthersuccess and development of the office. vessels in the Jones Act sector. Mike has Bachelors of Technology Degree and Diploma of Naval Architecture from Me- morial University in Newfoundland. Eckart Joins HS Marine Propulsion John Eckart joinedHS Marine Propul-sion, LLC as thePrincipal Engineer. Eckart has worked in the marine industryfor 25 years in theareas of hydrody- namics and shippropulsion. He spent the past 15 years asa principal engineer with Rolls-Royce Naval Marine, Inc., where he was re- sponsible for propeller and waterjet de- sign and analysis .Former Navsea Commander Joins G&C Board Gibbs & Cox said that Vice Admiral Paul Sullivan, USN (Retired) has been unanimously elected Sullivan's vast naval experience and leadership led to the suc- cessful delivery of 22 new ships, 63 major ship overhauls and more than 140 private sector overhauls. Heikinheimo: President of Napa Group Juha Heikinheimo(54) was appointed President of NapaGroup (Napa Ltd), aprovider of software solutions for themaritime industry. The appointmenttook effect on Sep- tember 1, 2011. He assumes the positionfrom Matti Salo, who successfully served as President of Napa Group for eleven years. Mr Salo will continue as Presidentof the subsidiary, Onboard-Napa Ltd. He will focus his attention on customers andboosting the growth of the NAPA for Op- erations business. ClassNK Opens First Russian Office ClassNK opened its first exclusive sur- veyor office in St. Petersburg on Septem- ber 14 with a reception hosted byClassNK Chairman and President andCurrent IACS Vice-Chairman Noboru Ueda. The event was attended by more than 80 guests including executives and representatives from throughout the Russian maritime industry. Berggren Joins Grundfos Grundfos hiredJon Berggren as a new Business Devel- opment Manager. Berggren holds de- grees in mechanicalengineering andmarketing. He has 14 years of interna- tional experience in the maritime indus- try. Most recently, he was Marketing Manager of Commercial Marine at Col-fax Corporation, where he was also Sales Director of IMO AB, one of the com- pany?s brands. He has also held various positions with Alfa Laval, among other jobs.Streit Joins Seakeeper Seakeeper has named Brook Streitas regional sales manager for NorthAmerica. He will beresponsible for gen-erating business in the recreational mar- ket. Streit formerly served as sales manager for Derecktor Shipyards in Bridgeport, Connecticut. In that position he generated sales leads forpower and sailing yachts. Streit is a grad- uate of The Landing School's boatbuild- ing program. ACL Appoints Blocker American Commercial Lines Inc.(ACL) appointed Robert M. Blocker as Senior Vice President of Sales and Cus- tomer Service. Blocker served in pro- gressively responsible sales roles with ACL from 1988 to 1995. He rejoins ACL after 16 years successfully leading AEP River Operations business development. He holds a bachelor's degree in business marketing from the University of Louisville. American Commercial Lines Inc. is an integrated marine transportation service company operating in the United States Jones Act trades. Titan Salvage Appoints Dolson TITAN Salvage, a Crowley Maritime Corporation company, appointed Dan Dolson to the senior management teamas operations manager for the Americas. In this new role, Dolson now has respon- sibility for the operations and profitabil- ity of TITAN's U.S. office and depot in Pompano, FL.Obituary: 1934 ? 2011Frank Koch Inspection Instrument PioneerFrank Koch, President andfounder of DeFel-sko Corporation died on August 8, 2011 at the age of77. Born andraised in Germany, Frank was for- mally trained as atool and die maker before emigrating in 1956. In the1960?s, Frank?s entrepreneurial spirit led him to Ogdensburg, New York where he started several successful businesses including DeFelsko Corp. It was his involvement with coating thickness and test instruments that mostdefined his career. Frank began im- porting and selling inspection instru-ments from Germany in the early 1960?s and soon moved into manufac- turing beginning with the PosiTest me- chanical pull-off gage and continuing with the ever-expanding PosiTector se- ries of inspection instruments.Frank?s combination of a bright mind, outgoing personality, dedication and tireless work ethic influenced the prod- ucts he made and the business relation- ships he developed. He travelled the world developing a network of dealers. He forged relationships based on hand- shakes and on the strength of his char- acter. He attributed much of his success to his loyal customers and dealers across the globe. His ability to understand the needs ofthe inspection community and to make instruments that were rugged and easyto use set Frank apart from his peers.Under his leadership, DeFelsko pio- neered many technologies including hand-held ultrasonic coating thicknessgages, auto switching ferrous/non-fer- rous coating thickness gages, and unique self-aligning adhesion testers.Through his vision and the team heinspired, his company evolved from a one-man operation to a world leader in the design and production of quality, hand-held test equipment. Today, the company he started employs over 50 people at their facility in Ogdensburg, New York and houses research, manu- facturing, sales, shipping and service departments. Frank?s son-in-law, David Beamish has assumed the responsibili-ties as President of the company. Frank?s daughter (and David?s wife), Linda Koch Beamish retains her role as Vice President. (Photo: Bridgton News, Bridgton,ME)MR Oct.11 # 8 (57-64):MR Template 10/5/2011 3:44 PM Page 62